Environmental Conservation and Protection

Nature Conservation: Aims, Methods and Achievements

Nature conservation aims to safeguard in perpetuity the essential subjects of study for natural scientists interested in the biota and the physical features of this country. Its basic strategy is to promote measures which minimize environmental damage resulting from human activities, following an evaluation of intrinsic importance of the features concerned and their vulnerability to disturbance. The establishment of nature reserves makes it possible to safeguard the most important areas of land and water by appropriate management programs, and there are at present 150 National Nature Reserves, covering ca. 120 +000 ha. Lesser categories of safeguard include Sites of Special Scientific Interest, of which 3500 have been notified. Conservation outside these protected areas is achieved by the provision of advice on land use and planning, by publicity and education and by legislation. The efficacy of these measures depends on adequate scientific information from surveys, recurrent observations and ecological research. This necessitates a considerable research effort yielding in return the substantial advances in basic ecological understanding which are an ultimate aim of nature conservation.





DENR report admits Philippines is way behind biodiversity protection












MANILA, Philippines—In its first report in 20 years since the enactment of a law aimed to ensure the conservation of the country’s biodiversity, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) acknowledged that much has to be done even as there have been gains in its efforts in protected areas management.

The 48-page report entitled “Communities in Nature: State of Protected Areas Management in the Philippines” admitted that the country’s biodiversity has remained threatened.

It said: “Many scientists have expressed the concern that despite the significant gains in protected areas management, the Philippines is still losing its remaining forest and coastal ecosystems at an alarming rate.”

“In other words, the country is either not effective in conserving its resources, or not fast enough in protecting ecosystems at risk,” the report said.

Nonetheless, the DENR was able to establish “a system of protected areas for biodiversity conservation and has rehabilitated and restored degraded ecosystems,” according to DENR Secretary Ramon Paje.

Dr. Mundita Lim, national project director of the New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP), said the government might have been “slow” in addressing biodiversity conservation because there have been gaps in the identification of protected areas nationwide, funding constraints as well as the capacities and awareness gaps among people, including DENR employees themselves.

“Management is a problem itself. We want to sustainably manage the protected areas themselves,” said Lim, who is also the director of the DENR Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB).

She stressed the need for the participation of stakeholders, particularly the local governments, which could invest their money in conservation efforts.

“They know that if they invest in protected areas, the returns would be huge. Everything would come in later. There should be the recognition of the people of the value of biodiversity to them, even the national government. Once the national government recognizes that (biodiversity) is actually the foundation for development, they would invest more than what we are getting at the moment,” Lim said.

Between 2005 and 2009, the PAWB was allocated less than P1 million to support activities for protected areas system management, according to the report.

But Lim also said that recognizing the problems in protected areas management was already a “good step towards addressing (the issue).”

While he has yet to see the report, Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan of the conservation group WWF-Philippines told the Inquirer by phone that “generally, protected areas management is insufficiently funded.”

“There is much room for improved management and enforcement. The rules of the NIPAS ACAT have by and large proven to be cumbersome, throwing, in many cases, too many roadblocks that would allow for improved effective management,” he said.

He added: “The situation is a slope. There are protected areas that are truly called leaders globally in protected areas management while there are areas that are laggards in protected areas management.”

Tan said that among the successes were the Tubbatha Reef in Palawan and the Mt. Iglit-Baco National Park in Mindoro Occidental, which has been home to the endangered tamaraw, while much can be done for the Penablanca protected area in Cagayan, the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur, and even Mt. Makiling in Laguna.

“There should be a sense of ownership among the people… Governance is not government… It is the quality of local ownership, seeing private sector interest, support, and money (in the protected areas management),” Tan said.

One of the 17 mega-diverse countries, the Philippines hosts about 70 to 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Ironically, it is also one of the hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world.

Two decades after the implementation of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS), a total of 240 protected areas have been established, covering 5.4 million hectares of land and sea. Of the figure, the total land area consists of 13.6 percent and only 0.64 percent of the country’s vast marine territory.

Eventually, 228 key biodiversity areas covering 7.6 million hectares, including 128 terrestrial and 100 marine sites, were identified.

                    Agusan Norte port project opposed

              Affected area is ‘world-class diving site,’ ‘protected fish sanctuary’

Tubay, Agusan del Norte – Local residents and officials of a coastal barangay and the municipal council here have expressed strong opposition to the construction of a multimillion-peso port project in the area, citing potential destruction to the environment, even as the contractor has reportedly been cleared by authorities to go on with the project.

In separate resolutions and petitions, copies of which were obtained by Manila Bulletin (MB), the Tubay Municipal Council and the Sangguning Pambarangay and residents of Payong-payong, a sitio in Barangay Tinigbasan, cited that the area of the port project construction is a “world-class diving site” within the protected “fish sanctuary.”



                       ENVIRONMENT-’UNFRIENDLY’ – This aerial shot captures the ongoing construction of the municipal port (lower left corner) in Payong-payong, Barangay Tinigbasan, Tubay, 

EnvironmentIn the 17th Tubay Municipal Council’s regular session held recently, Tubay Vice Mayor Jimmy Beray disclosed that the establishment of the port in Payong-payong has “no proof of publication/posting and/or proper public consultation, which is in violation of the Local Government Code.”

“The potential tourism area is also a fish sanctuary, and it is inevitable that the said natural habitat of the endangered species of flora and fauna will be disrupted by the construction of the said structure (port),” Tubay Municipal Council’s resolution stated.

“The [Municipal Council] is not against the establishment of a municipal port. What it does not approve of is the present location of the proposed port,” it added.

An eight-page petition “opposing the construction of the municipal port in Payong-payong for environmental protection and coral reefs preservation” adopted and signed by officials and 205 residents of the affected barangays, and forwarded to the municipal board members and Beray also appealed for the stoppage of construction of the municipal port, saying it will lead to “the destruction of the environment and marine ecosystem.”

“The establishment of a port in Payong-payong will destruct our environment, and will also block the development of our fish sanctuary,” their petition stated in the Visayan dialect.

The Tubay Municipal Council has created a technical working group chaired by Beray that will conduct a comprehensive study and investigation on the port project.

Beray said the ongoing construction of the port, particularly its causeway, must be probed despite two resolutions unanimously passed by the concerned parties.

“You can now visibly see the extent of damage in Payong-payong, the beautiful coral reefs in the area fading away… and barangay residents and fishermen already complaining of small catch due to scarcity of fish and other marine resources in the area,” he added.

A separate document gathered by MB disclosed that on December 17, 2012, the Tubay Municipal Council approved Ordinance No. 2012-40, establishing the Municipal Port of Tubay in Payong-payong, Tinigbasan, Agusan del Norte. The ordinance was forwarded to the Provincial Board (Sangguniang Panlalawigan) on June 21, 2013 and was approved by the same on Sept. 16, 2013.

“In its review, the committee finds the establishment of the municipal port consistent with the general welfare clause found under Section 16 of the Local Government Code wherein municipalities are empowered to provide infrastructures intended primarily to service the needs of their residents,” the two-page Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution No. 043-2013 stated.

Upon completion, the port will be used by Agata Mining Joint Venture, it was learned. The firm is reportedly shouldering the project cost, which was initially pegged at P10 million.

One of Agata’s officials, who requested anonymity as he is not authorized to issue any statement regarding the matter, said Agata followed all the necessary procedures and complied with the requirements, including the environmental compliance certificate, before “we started our ground works for the port.”

He added that the company had already received a clearance to develop a port facility for the proposed direct shipping ore operation of the high-iron laterite resources at the Agata project.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Office (DENR-13) has already started its ground investigation on the matter.

“Our government is campaigning [nonstop] on environment preservation and protection, [so] we will [find out] if the protected area and fish sanctuary are affected by the establishment of this port,” DENR-13 Executive Director Nonito Tamayo said in a separate interview.

On the other hand, Department of  Tourism Regional (DOT-13) Director Leticia Tan said Payong-payong is “not” included in DOT’s tourism development plan due to mining activities within the area.

“Tourism potential, yes, but it will contradict our Republic Act 9593 on ‘No Mining’ if declared a tourism development area,” Tan said.